Language Liberalism Freethought Birds
Verbing Weirds Language only if you're expecting it to work in a simple way. This is a special case of the more general truth that Language Weirds.
Only when a republic's life is in danger should a man uphold his government when it is in the wrong. There is no other time.
The church says Earth is flat; but I have seen its shadow on the moon, and I have more confidence in a shadow than the church.
If we can't find Heaven, there are always bluejays.
"Sacks-AH-fu-nist"? Seriously? That's weirder than "sir-cue-LATE-or-y", both of which I just heard on British TV...
Labels: language, miscellaneous
I used to teach Russian and Ukrainian, and some basic English, to civil servants. Now I teach Russian at a local continued-learning institute. I dabble in Gaelic and Welsh. I'm am amateur photographer and I love birding (in a small way). I'm a Progressive, and a Freethinker, and I know Evolution is a fact - that's FCD, Friend of Charles Darwin (look down the sidebar). I read a lot, and follow women's college basketball. Also I love astronomy, though I'm a rank amateur at it. Most of all, I like living in the reality-based community...
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6 Comments:
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At 4:42 PM, May 29, 2009
Deborah Godin had this to say...
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At 4:47 PM, May 29, 2009
Barry Leiba had this to say...
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At 5:28 PM, May 29, 2009
The Ridger, FCD had this to say...
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At 3:16 AM, May 30, 2009
Anonymous had this to say...
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At 4:49 PM, May 30, 2009
The Ridger, FCD had this to say...
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At 10:13 PM, May 30, 2009
Anonymous had this to say...
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<-- Older Post ^ Home Newer Post -->Don't get me started on British pronunciation! As someone born and raised in Michigan, but living in Canada, I can only be grateful that the em-PHA-sis on different syl LA-buls didn't catch on here. I already eschew (except when published) all British spellings except the necessary "cheque." So far, no one has ever called me out on it, or told me to get with the programme.
I always enjoyed "cuh-RAH-luh-ree". But, really, "you-RYE-nal" takes the, um, cake (sorry).
CuhRAHluhree - I lost three lines of dialog once trying to make out what that word was! And the waitress brought my traveling companion a med-TRAIN-yun salad that he almost rejected, since he was expecting a Mediterranean one...
I've never heard "sir-cue-LATE-or-y", so I'm sceptical that it's standard anywhere (it sounds more like an individual's guess), but with respect to stress, "Sacks-AH-fu-nist" is the only pronounciation I know. But why do you transcribe the second vowel as "AH", implying a non-rounded, American vowel?
Assuming "CuhRAHluhree" is "corollary" then again, that's the only pronunciation I know of (again, ignoring the fact that the vowel is wrong). "you-RYE-nal", on the other hand, I have never heard.
why do you transcribe the second vowel as "AH", implying a non-rounded, American vowel?Probably because I'm an American and that's what it sounded like to me. As for circulatory, that was on the television, a PSA about heart disease. It struck me as strange, but also as normal, considering that migratory and other words are pronounced with that stressed long A.
I might should add here that I'm quite sure Brits could write posts laughing at American pronunciation. All I mean to say is that it sounds strange to me - not that it's "wrong" in any way.
I agree. For me as an Australian, some American pronunciations definitely make me wince. That they are not therefore wrong can, I think, be taken for granted - that's no reason not to talk about the reaction they invoke.
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